The Chinese yuan has depreciated against the dollar this year. Against the Japanese yen, the euro, and the British pound, it’s another story.

The yuan’s jump against the currencies that are not the dollar could further complicate Beijing’s exchange-rate policy just as the government is trying to figure out how to deal with the surging U.S. currency. Already, it faces potential pressure from U.S. lawmakers who have long criticized China for keeping the yuan artificially low to help Chinese exporters. Read More »

China’s buying of U.S. debt is so murky, even the U.S. doesn’t know exactly how much Beijing owns.

Each month, the Treasury Department releases its Treasury International Capital report detailing data on capital flows across U.S. borders. That report attempts to tally transactions and foreign ownership of U.S. debt and other assets. Read More »

China’s central bank pulled the trigger on something the market already knew it was aiming at — widening the trading band for the nation’s currency. The People’s Bank of China said it would allow the yuan to move 2% above or below a rate it sets every day for the currency against the U.S. dollar, up from 1% now, in a move that will mean the yuan will behave a little more like major currencies.

The policy move, which takes effect Monday, still lets the PBOC keep its thumb on the foreign exchange scale, knowing the currency won’t move more than 2% away from where it wants it on any given day. Read More »

Last year, China’s yuan for the first time joined the ranks of the most-traded international currencies, highlighting the country’s ambitions to play a larger role in a market long dominated by the dollar.

But in his new book, “The Dollar Trap,” Eswar Prasad, a former top China hand at the International Monetary Fund says the dollar has no rival as the world’s currency—and probably won’t for decades.

The 48-year-old, who now splits his time between teaching at Cornell University and thinking big thoughts at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., talked with China Real Time about the dominance of the dollar, whether the yuan could ever become a reserve currency and why he draws inspiration from the old radio and TV hit “Gunsmoke.” Read More »

In a new Brookings Institution study, Eswar Prasad and Lei Ye of Cornell University say China’s currency will become an international reserve currency within the next decade, “eroding but not displacing the dollar’s dominance.” On some key criteria for becoming a reserve currency, such as government debt, China performs well. It’s far behind on others.

The Chinese government’s policy of slow, steady strengthening of the yuan against the dollar makes for consistent downward movement in the dollar-yuan exchange rate. Many traders consider this proof that the yuan is broadly gaining strength.

But this thinking has a caveat that sometimes gets glossed over: The upward yuan movement against the dollar doesn’t automatically mean appreciation against other currencies. Read More »

China’s effort to make the yuan an international currency is running into complications, including the deeply ironic outcome that it is actually boosting the country’s massive stockpile of foreign currency. As awareness builds of these unintended consequences, prominent voices are now calling on Beijing to take a step back and slow the pace of yuan internationalization. Read More »

Expert Insight

China’s territorial ambitions in the East and South China seas are by now well-documented. Much less understood is one of the key factors in the country’s ability to realize those ambitions: an increasingly well-funded and capable maritime militia.

The U.S. has been urging allies to steer clear of Asia's new China-led infrastructure investment bank. Robert Zoellick, former president of the World Bank, calls that approach mistaken on multiple levels.

Can legal reform and Communist Party control coexist in a way that will benefit Chinese governance and society?This is the question that confronts the country in the wake of its annual legislative gathering.

China's just-concluded legislative sessions seem to be another example of the deinstitutionalization of politics under Xi Jinping. Months from now, these meetings won’t be seen as harbingers of reform, so much as another lost opportunity, writes CRT analyst Russell Moses.

About China Real Time Report

China Real Time Report is a vital resource for an expanding global community trying to keep up with a country changing minute by minute. The site offers quick insight and sharp analysis from the wide network of Dow Jones reporters across Greater China, including Dow Jones Newswires’ specialists and The Wall Street Journal’s award-winning team. It also draws on the insights of commentators close to the hot topic of the day in law, policy, economics and culture. Its editors can be reached at chinarealtime@wsj.com.